New Mutants
by Kaiters
Summary: Have the staff at the Xavier Mansion bitten off more than they could chew, when they admit 7 new young mutants? bit of RoLo, just to make it interesting. rated T for language.By the way I am more likely to upload more if you review,so please review!
1. Chapter 1

The mansion slept. But the peace surrounding the students was superficial. The entire mansion was collectively holding it's breath, just waiting for the inevitable, the return of someone who would almost certainly ruin everything. It was close to 3am when he arrived. Soaked to the skin, with his hair plastered to his head. No one was there to greet him, but he hadn't expected anyone, no one knew where he'd been, what he'd been doing or even when he'd return. He prefered it that way. After dumping the 'borrowed' motorbike in the garage he snuck round to the back of the mansion. When he reached the kitchen door he extended a metal claw and sliced right through the lock.

"Logan"

"Ororo"

The pair looked at one another. The slender dark skinned woman, and the short, muscular man. Clear blue eyes met intense dark blue ones.

"How's it goin then? How are ya?"

"I am fine Logan, have you visited alkalai lake again?"

"Yeah, 'found nothing though"

"I had better be getting back to bed, I have classes to teach in 4 hours"

"G'night"

"I will see you in a few hours Logan"

The abrupt conversation was over almost as soon as it started. Logan sighed. There was always a slight tension between the two of them and he wished he knew why. After thoroughly examining the fridge for a beer and yielding nothing, he headed upstairs for a change of clothes and hopefully some sleep.

LOGAN

He was abruptly awakened by a loud psychic message. My office - as soon as possible, if you would be so kind. He recognised the voice as The Professor's. He groaned. This early in the morning he was lucky if he could move, let alone make the long trek to te professors office, on the other side of the building. Come on Logan pull ya'self together, ya've bin' through worse than this. Having shrugged on a T-shirt and some grey jeans, he made his way, barefoot, to the professor's office.

"LOGAN!!"

He recognised the voice and turned, bracing himself for what was going to be a ribcracker of a hug. He was correct. the hug he recieved from Rogue just about knocked him off his feet.

"Ah've missed ya Logan"

"Yeah, I can see" she was still tightly wrapped around him.

"Oh, sorry" she released her vice-like grip on him

"So how've things bin' what've I missed"

" yeah its been good, not much has happened, it's been pretty boring without ya Logan"

"Always is." he paused, and remembered his engagement "hey look I gotta go meet the professor, but I'll catch ya later"

"Sure, see ya" Rogue ran off down the corridor, presumably to spread the word that he was back.

He had hardly gone another few paces before a second Voice screamed.

"WHAT?? HE'S BACK.?? WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO??"

This time Jubilee's hug caught him unawares and he had to fight to stay on his feet.

"What the hell took you so long!?"

"Yeah nice ta see ya too Jubes." He glanced at his smashed watch, "Ya got the time?"

"Yeah it's 5 to 8, Why - "

"Shit" He interjected " Sorry Jubes I gotta get goin'. The professor wants ta see me 'bout something"

He continued down the corridor as he tried to calculate just how late he was. The professor had awakened him at about 7:30 so that meant he had better get there in the next 5 minutes.

"LOGAN!!"

Inwardly he sighed as he realised he would be held up further. Yet another one of the seemingly many students dependent on him. Kitty Pryde "Hey halfpint where ya bin'. I bin' back a whole 4 hours an haven't seen ya that can't be right"

"Oh my god Logan we were all so worried when you took off like that -"

"Yeah well I had stuff to do" Logan interjected quickly. He wanted to get the conversation over with as soon as possible.

"But you could've told us where you were going"

"You'da tried to stop me "

"Where did you go?"

Logan tapped his nose."secret" He whispered and tore off in the direction of the professor.

He set off at a sprinting pace and had almost reached his destination when -

"Hey Mr. Logan"

Logan recognised the voice's owner as one of his self defence students, Bobby Drake. "Yeah"

"It's good to have you back, Cyclops has been taking your self defence classes"

"What?!"

"Yeah, I know, I doubt he's ever been in a real fist fight, he keeps lecturing us on tactics and shit"

Logan stifled a laugh "well gotta go" he yelled running off toward the Professor's office. "Oh and Bobby."

"Yeah"

"Language, please"

Dear god, I'm becoming more and more like an authorative, responsible adult with every day in this dump, Logan thought to himself. Still he had nowhere else where he felt so at home, other than the mansion.

It was 20 past 8 by the time Logan finally tore into the Professor's office, "Something you wanted to see me 'bout Chuck -"

He stopped. Sitting alongside the professor were Cyclops, Jean, Hank, Warren, Betsy and Storm.

"I aplaude your audacity Logan, but your punctuallity clearly needs some work"

"I can't help it. I didn't realise I was so loved by ev'ryone here." his words had a sarcastic edge.

The professor carried on regardless of his words."So as I was saying, now Logan has made an appearance I can begin. Recently I have recieved psychic contact with something. The messages appear to come from a mutant but the power it displays is phenomenal and well beyond any mutant I am aware of. Furthermore I haven't been able to place this mutant with cerebro despite my best efforts. I know only a few things about this mutant, he calls himself Merlin, and he is impossibly old. The messages I have recieved from him always concern two things, the location of this school and whether I could consider taking on a further 7 mutants. Last night I replied to Merlin and explained the location of the school."

"So do you want us to locate them Professor?" Cyclops's tone was annoyingly sincere.

"No I doubt that would make much difference Scott. I merely gathered you here today to warn you of our possible new arrivals. I apologise for keeping you so long"

"So we may go begin our first class?" Ororo spoke up for the first time.

"Please"

The group began to leave. Logan was just going through the door when the professor called him back. "Actually I was wondering if I might have a word Logan"

"Look, if it's about the lateness - "

"No Logan. I was just wondering if I could talk to you about your teaching responsibilities"

"Huh?"

"Well, I am keen to introduce a new languages facility into the school and I was wondering if you would consider teaching"

"What? Why the hell have I gotta do it?"

"I never said that you had to do it Logan. However you speak seven languages and you have the least busy timetable so forgive me for thinking of you."

"Fair 'nuff. I'll think 'bout it"

"Thank you Logan"

As he walked out the door he yelled back "I'm not promising ya anything though"

"Teach languages, he's gotta be kidding" Logan muttered to himself as he continued along the corridor back to his bed.

"They say talkin' to ya'self is the first sign of craziness sugah" Logan turned and the speaker revealed herself.

"Rogue, shouldn't ya be in class"

"On ma' way. Whats all this about ya' teaching languages"

"Chuck says I'm the best person for the job, 'not sure I agree. Hang on, stop distracting me, ya' should be in class by now"

"But-"

"Go, now"


	2. Chapter 2

Logan sighed. He had been pleased to hear that he wouldn't be resuming his teaching duties until after the weekend. It was only Friday, and yet he was still so bored, he thought he was going to hurt someone. He really wished he had something to do.

Exasperated, he left his room for the first time that day and glanced at his watch: 2:30pm. The day was pretty much done and he hadn't left the confines of his bedroom. "Ya' know Logan, ya' gotta get out more" he muttered to himself as he wandered down the corridor.

With nothing better to do he decided to go look for Jean, he felt like pissing someone off and Scott seemed a perfect candidate for his frustration to be unleashed upon. After a quick stop off at the kitchen fridge, which still yielded no beer, he began his search.

Half an hour later Logan sat in the kitchen, understandably bemused, he couldn't find Jean, nor any other adults, even when he tried sniffing them out. It was then that he noticed the note, held to the table with an empty milk bottle, it simply read:

_Hey Logan,_

_I Heard you were back but couldn't find you. You're in charge. Ororo's around but I don't know where, Scott and I have gone out, Hank and the professor are at some conference and Warren and Betsy will be back soon. _

_Jean_

_PS: We're out of milk._

Logan let out a roar of annoyance as he embedded his claws in the table. Great, just great he thought to himself. Stuck with a load of kids for the afternoon, that is unless he could find Ororo. He had looked all over the mansion and it was tipping down with rain outside so -  
Ah of course, I've bin' such an idiot, he thought to himself and set off at a run.

He arrived at her greenhouse minutes later, soaked to the skin and in an even fouler mood than before.

"Logan"

"'Roro" Logan gave her a slight nod. "Can I come in"

"Of course, now pray tell, what's wrong?"

"Oh 'ya know I'm just bored, an' I'm s'posed ta be in charge" Logan paused and then retorted, "Dunno whose idea that was"

"Where is Jean?"

"Out, so are all the other staff"

"Well, if you came here to ask me if I could take charge-"

"Nah, just wanted a chat."

"This makes a change, you usually only ever come to me when you are troubled by something"

Logan grinned "Yeah sorry 'bout that "

"That's just one of the perils of being a good listener, I suppose"

"-And just one of the perils of being very close ta me" Logan chuckled. Then he stopped, he had meant the last part as a joke and yet he suddenly felt quite awkward. He suddenly felt quite panicked by the silence that followed, and so felt quite obliged to break it. "Oh Yeah, sorry, we're out of milk. I gotta go get some, 'shouldn't be gone too long", and with that he half ran out of the green house.

Shit Shit Shit , well ya' sure screwed that one up Logan he thought as he searched for Scott's motorcycle keys, failing to find them he just extended a claw stuck it clean through the ignition switch and after a few movements the engine burst into life with a roar.

And now for milk he thought to himself.

Whilst speeding along deserted roads he replayed the conversation in his mind. Thinking about it, he realised that the tension between them was begining to ruin their relationship. The tension that had only so recently become so strong. Ah, I've gotta fix this, he thought to himself and did a sharp u-turn.

When Logan returned to the mansion, a state of calm had fallen over it. All the Students were doing homework or other tasks assigned to them by Ororo. Logan sighed. It was one of the aspects of Ororo that he greatly admired, the way that she was so calm and serene and yet commanded so much respect from students and staff alike. He took a deep band walked over to where Ororo was supervising some of the younger students.

"hey Ororo"

"What happened to going to get milk?"

"Oh forget the milk, I've got sommat more important ta' talk 'bout"

"Oh yes?"

"yeah. Sommat that's bin' on my mind a while now" Logan paused, summoned up all his courage, and said, "Look 'Ro, I should'a said this a long time ago but -"

At that precise moment, Jean, Scott, Warren and Betsy chose to burst in. Immediately Ororo's attention was stolen from Logan as her head flicked round. She rushed off to greet her old friends. Logan took a deep breath, but even with his great self control, he still couldn't quite keep his anger from seeping through to the surface, as he stalked off to his room , growling softly.

Ororo turned around, with the intention of continuing her conversation with Logan. Upon finding him to have vanished she stopped, puzzled. She consulted a nearby student. "Hey Danny did you see where Professor Logan went?"

Danny, a mustant with the ability to see through any material, replied, "um uh He's on his way to his Uh room. He looks pretty mad though."

Ororo sighed, she really didn't understand that man, one moment he's acting like a sensitive aensible adult, the next he was off on one of his tantrums. Even now he was probably tearing the mansion apart, just because he couldn't say exactly what he wanted.

Once Logan reached his room, he let rip. Unable to control his ferocity any longer, he slipped out of conciousness and ceased to be a human being. Twenty minutes later Logan sat, stunned on his bed and surveyed the damage. Pretty much anything that could be torn or scratched-which was everything was damaged.

Logan was confused, he hadn't lost his temper in a long time. Of course he was pretty pissed about not being listened to, but something that minor couldn't've provoked his fit of rage. He sat on the corner of his bed deep in thought for a long time. He was so deep in thought that he didn't hear the calls for food, nor the high  
spirited cries of students as Cyclops attempted to organise an evening activity, by time the staff finally retreated to their quarters Logan was already deep in sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

The sun wrenched him from his fitful sleep, filled with vague shadows of his past, the unknown, the forgotten. He paled feeling the beads of sweat on his forehead cool. Who opened the goddam window? This thought soon evaporated, as, reminded by the wreckage of the room and the shattered window, it all came back to him. Shit. Ohhh shit.

"You're gonna have a hard time explaining ya'self outa' this one Logan" He groaned and threw himself out of the bed before yelping at the glass puncturing his feet. However the pain, like the wound didn't linger and soon he was collecting the shards of glass and wood off the carpet and placing them softly out the window, where they landed with a resounding thudddd in the open dumpsters below. Whoever took out the trash would have a nasty surprise, but he didn't really consider that his problem anymore.

He then began to consider his clothing situation; most of his clothes in his bag (so just about everything he felt comfortable in) were in tatters. He searched the drawers of his room praying that there would be something remaining from before his journey. His search yielded only a pair of canvas shorts and a too-short t-shirt. "Ahhh well it'll have ta do".

He groaned. Every wall had deep crevices carved into them, one of the curtains looked as though it had been put through a shredder and the bed was missing a leg. Nothing that can't be fixed he thought to himself. Sure enough ten minutes later the ruined walls had been deviously adorned with a lucrative display of strange abstract paintings at even stranger angles and a hanging rug, the curtain had joined the glass and wood in the dumpster and the bed had been propped up, so that superficially (that is as long as nobody used it) it seemed safe enough.

He groaned and sank to the floor in stupor that was the result of two early risings in a row.

KNOCK. KNO-KNOCK. KNOCK. The sound shot through his head. "Who tha' hells up at-" he checked the cracked clock now lying face up on his bed,"half past six in the morning. For christssakes hows a man supposed ta' get any rest in this dump"

"You'd be surprised Logan." With a pang he realised the voice belonged to Ororo.

"uh... Come in" he hastily brushed the tattered remains of his clothes under the bed.

Ororo opened the door "I bought you some coffee" she paused briefly almost as if he was supposed to offer something in return,"Also I was wondering if you wanted to explain whatever you were going to tell me yesterday".

Still in a half groggy state it was all Logan could manage to mutter "Nah it wasn't that important"

Taking the hint Ororo made her way out of the room, "well in that case I'll leave you to it. Oh and Logan?"

"Yer?"

"I would probably explain to the professor just how the gaping hole in your door came to be there"

I forgot the door. Fuck. This thought was soon replaced by a larger feeling of disgust; at his room, at himself. Okay, okay mainly at himself. Now, in the harsh morning sunlight he realised that he had no idea just what he was going to say to Ororo. So just why had he blown up like that? Realising that he could neither speculate nor answer that question in his present state, he resolved to go and apologise. And find some beer.

Barefoot and walking along the now deserted corridors he began to search for Ororo taking in the vague scents upon the air, amongst the familiar smells of body odour and deodorant lurked something different, something new. He wandered towards the kitchen hoping to catch Ororo's scent. However he barely got half way before he noticed.

It was the boy that first caught his sight. He was sitting in a chair that Logan himself had found himself in many times before, the sympathy chair. It was just visible through the open door and its occupant was not in good shape. His face was barely visible through a mask of dried blood crusting around his nose, one eye was swollen shut and blackened skin surrounded it, he also had a crumpled look that Logan knew so well; the look of a man who's just had his ribs broken.

"Logan? Come in." The professor beckoned him into his study, "please meet our new arrivals."

He entered the room, cautiously, slowly, slightly on guard, before inspecting the mutants within. Lurking at the edge was a tall youth with dark brown hair and dead eyes, he would have been intimidating, but for the fact that he gangled slightly. Next to him stood a slightly more formidable young man, blonde, thickly built and at least six feet tall, Logan was definitely slightly more wary of him. A girl who couldn't have been older than fifteen, sat perched upon a stool, naturally beautiful, her face had a slight Asian quality to it, something in the eyes perhaps, or the cheekbones. Next to her stood what could only be her brother, he had the same Asian quality to his face, and something in the way he was standing gave off a feeling of calm assertiveness, at his feet a large wolf-like dog lay curled up. On the edge of the group was a child of no more than nine or ten, his haunted eyes, fixed upon the floor.

The figure upon the chair groaned, looking at him Logan realised that he was more unconscious than conscious. His eyes were both closed and he lay there like a crumpled ragdoll. "Uh is he -", he began.

"He's fine, He'll be okay in a few hours, leave him." Logan spun round to face the speaker. It was the assertive youth, dressed simply in a grey t-shirt and an open anorak; he seemed to affect some part of him in a very primitive way. He retreated, shrugging his shoulders, to behind the professor's desk.

"Please excuse the interruption; I believe you were about to introduce yourselves", Charles Xavier seemed slightly peeved, though whether it was because of Logan's interruption or the early arrival of these mutants, he couldn't determine.

"Yes. My name is Shaun Fletcher, this is my sister Abbie," the anorak kid gestured towards the girl, "This is Gabriel Gyllenlykke." He pointed this time towards the blonde kid" This is Louis O' Hare" He gestured to the tall gangly kid. "This is Callum Barnett" The small child twitched slightly when his name was mentioned but didn't look up. "And that's James" He pointed at the crumpled figure, it appeared no one else cared about his lack of surname so Logan chose not to comment upon it.

"So was I mistaken in expecting seven of you?" Again the professor seemed slightly irritated; Logan sensed his lack of sleep and wondered how long this little introductory meeting had been going on for. He also noticed how tired the group looked, apart from Shaun, none of them had really moved.

"No. We had a seventh, but she left."

"I see" sensing the unwillingness to expand, the professor moved on quickly. "I have two trained medical staff prepared to look at you all, and after that we can register you as students and allocate you rooms. That is if you are up to it."

"That sounds excellent. Thank you." Shaun's tone was courteous but slightly intimidating.

"If you would like to follow Professor Logan, he will show you to the lab" the Professor gestured to him, subtly moving him out of the office. "Oh and Logan if you would be so good as to carry James-"

"N-n-nah I can uh walk... I think" James stood up and began to slowly, gingerly make his way out of the room following the figure of Logan.

Logan led them along the labyrinth of corridors that led to the lab, all the while getting more and more uncomfortable. He hated the sterile, clean, white smell of it. It brought back memories. He knocked once, hearing the sound resonate through the lab where he presumed Ororo and Hank were the two 'medical staff' that the professor had been referring to.

"Come in" the voice did indeed belong to Ororo. As the entourage trooped in she flinched seeing James's face and Hank immediately stepped in, in control as ever he organised the six of them into a suitable order, beginning with the most needy – James. However as he stumbled up to the door of the more private room, his breath was coming in gasps. He took two steps and then appeared to pass out, dropping into Logan's arms, ready to catch him. As Logan carried him through the doorway Shaun followed.

"It's Okay, he'll be fine, could you take a seat?" Hank, just a little too polite and yet as ever reassuring.

"Just one thing, no surgery. Promise me that you'll leave him. He'll be fine tomorrow"

"It's okay" These two word words of reassurance were enough to convince him and he returned to the make-shift waiting room.

Hank looked down at the broken, crumpled, bloodied youth between them. "Well, where do we begin?"


End file.
